Trace-holder.



No. 784,213. PATENTED MAR. 7, 1905. C. HEILRATH.

TRACE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19.1904.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\-\\\\ sll lm Linea: c o

life. 784,21".

hurrah S'rarus Patented March '7, 1905.

PATENT Urricu.

TRACE-HOLDEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,213, dated March 1905.

Application filed July 19, 1904. Serial No. 217,238.

To all TUZ'I/O'H'I/ it 'IIMLZ/ concern/.-

Be it known that 1, CHRISTIAN I-InILRATiI. a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented a new and useful 'lrace-Holder, of which the following is a specilication.

The invention relates to improvements in trace-holders.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of trace-holders and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efiicient device designed particularly for use on light whillletrees and adapted to securely retain a trace on the end of the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character having a hinged hook and adapted to be secured to a light whiflletree by a single fastening device with the latter arranged close to the joint of the hinged hook, so that the force employed for opening and closing the hook will not operate to loosen the fastening device.

The invention also has for its object to provide a spring for holding the hinged. hook in its opened and closed position and to arralilge the spring so that it will be equally eifected in either position of the hook and not liable to be clogged by dirt or other accumulation.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trace-holder constructed in accord ance with this invention and shown applied to a whii'l'letree. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional. view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the attachment plate or support upon which the pivoted hook is mounted.

Likemunerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates an approximately semicircular trace-holding hook designed to he arranged on the upper face of a whijll'letree 2, as illustrated in the accompanying drawil'igs and having its inner end 3 bifurcated to receive a lug L of an attachment plate or support The lug 1 and the sides of the bifurcated inner end 3 of the hook are pierced by a pivot 6, which consists of a pin or rivet. The attachment plate or support is secured to the whifl'ietree by means of a screw 7, having its head at the lower face of the whili'letree and extending through the same and engaging a tl'ireaded opening 8, located at the center of the attachment plate or support 5 and at a point adjacent to the joint of the hinged hook, whereby the plate or support will be securely fastened to the whiflietree and the fastening device rotated in the most effective position to withstand the strain incident to the opening and closing of the hook. In order to we vent the attachment plate or support from accidentally rotating on the threaded end of the screw, it is provided at its ends with inwardly extending spurs or projections 9, preferably pointed, as shown, whereby they are adapted to be readily embedded in the whifiietree. The screw is adapted to draw the spurs into engagement with the Wlll'fllQlJIQG and it holds them firmly in such engagement.

The lug 1 is tapered and presents inner and outer rounded inclined faces, which are adapted to be engaged by a head or block 10, having a shank or stem extending into a coiled spring 11, which is housed within a longitudinal opening or socket 12 of the inner end of the trace-holding hook. The socket or opening is curved to conform to the curve of the hook and the spring is correspondingly curved. The head or block forms an engaging member, but the spring may directly ongage the lug, as will be readily understood. W hen the hook is closed, the spring-actuated member engages the outer side of the lug, and when the hook is open the said member engages the inner inclined side or edge of the lug. The outer end of the hook is'adapted to fit against the upper face of the whiflletrce to retain a trace thereon, and it is provided with a projecting portion or grip 13 for enabling it to be readily grasped for opening or closing it. The outer end 1 L of the whifiletree is adapted to extend through the eye of a trace, the upper portion of which lies within the hook, as will be readily understood.

It will be seen that the trace-holder is-eX- ceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it possesses great strength and durability, and that it will enable a trace to be quickly connected with and disconnected from a whifiietree. Furthermore, it will be clear that the fastening device is located adjacent to the joint of the hook and that owing to the arrangement of the spring within the hook itself the base or attachment plate may be made exceedingly small and very short to adapt it for light whiiiletrees and to enable it to be secured to the same by a single fastening device.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a whifiietree, of an attachment-plate provided at its ends with inwardly-extending spurs engaging the whiflietree, a fastening device piercing the attachment-plate at a point between the spurs and securing the former to the whiflietree and retaining the spurs in engagen'ient with the same, and a hook hinged to the attachmentplate adjacent to the fastening device.

2. Atrace-holder, comprisingasupport provided with a lug, a hook pivoted to the lug and provided at its pivoted portion with a socket or opening, and a spring housed within the socket or opening and cooperating with the lug for holding the hook.

3. A trace-holder, comprising an attachment plate or support provided with a tapered lug, a hook pivoted to the lug and having a longitudinal socket, and a coiled springhoused within the socket and provided with means for engaging the opposite faces of the lug for holding the hook in its opened and closed positions.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN HEILRATH.

Witnesses:

IVILLIAM H. THoMsoN, EDWARD A. MEIs'rER. 

